Scripture Verse

The gates of [the city] shall not be shut at all by day; for there shall be no night there. Revelation 21:25

Introduction

portrait
Lydia Baxter (1809–1874)

Words: Ly­dia O. Bax­ter, in Pre­cious Hymns (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Be­tha­ny Sab­bath School, 1870). She wrote these words for Si­las Vail.

Music: Si­las J. Vail (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Vail (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lord Shaftes­bury once told the fol­low­ing sto­ry: A young wo­man had wan­dered away from home and par­ents. One day, while list­en­ing to the Gos­pel, she was so im­pressed that she re­solved to re­turn home.

She start­ed, and on reach­ing the house found the door un­fast­ened, and she walked up­stairs to her mo­ther. Mo­ther, she asked, how was it that I found the door op­en? My girl, re­plied the mo­ther, that door has ne­ver been closed since you have been away; I thought that some night my poor girl would re­turn.

Sankey, p. 264

Lyrics

There is a gate that stands ajar,
And through its por­tals gleam­ing
A ra­di­ance from the cross afar,
The Sav­ior’s love re­veal­ing.

Refrain

O depth of mer­cy! Can it be
That gate was left ajar for me?
For me! For me!
Was left ajar for me!

That gate ajar stands free for all
Who seek through it sal­va­tion;
The rich and poor, the great and small,
Of ev­ery tribe and na­tion.

Refrain

Press on­ward, then, though foes may frown,
While mer­cy’s gate is open;
Accept the cross, and win the crown,
Love’s ev­er­last­ing to­ken.

Refrain

Beyond the ri­ver’s brink we’ll lay
The cross that here is giv­en,
And bear the crown of life away,
And love Him more in Hea­ven.

Refrain